Jill
Kennedy has plans for a Christmas wedding. She's put down deposits for the
flowers, photos, and venue. Now all she needs is a groom. A drummer who'll keep
her life as steady as he keeps the beat to his music. With her good friend
Charlie Costello as her wingman, she'll interview percussionists, one per month
until she finds the right tempo. But with Christmas approaching and no groom in
sight, she's starting to wonder if she'll ever bang the drummer of her dreams.

Excrept:

Jill Kennedy curled up on
her couch studying her iPad, frowning. Her Christmas tree still twinkled in the
corner although the holiday was long past. Coldplay’s latest CD bumped its
tunes out from her iPod docking station. The last of her Christmas candles
flicked in glass holders on the coffee table, filling the room with the scent
of pine and cranberry. She should be feeling mellow, but instead her nerves
were jumping and a headache was creeping slowly up from the nape of her neck.

Charlie Costello lounged
next to her, sock feet resting on her coffee table, his hands tapping a steady
rhythm on his thighs in time to the song.

Jill tucked a strand of
her shoulder-length sable-colored hair behind her ear as she studied the
information on the iPad screen.

“I think I’ve got
everything taken care of. Booked the Creekside Winery. Ordered the decorations.
Set up a tasting for the food and Stella’s designing the wedding cake.” She
glanced up at Charlie. “Why are you looking at me in that strange way?”

He gave her his familiar
lop-sided grin. “You are the only woman I know who plans and pays for her
wedding without knowing who the groom is.”

She flipped a hand at
him. “I’ll have one by then. It’s in the plan. You know.”

He threw back his head
and laughed. “Yeah, I love your interview process. You aren’t even dating
anyone right now.”

“Because look how poor my
choices were in that arena, right?”

He snorted. “So this is
better? Tell me how?”

Jill pulled up another
memo on her iPad. “Okay. I have a list.”

“A list? This I gotta
hear. Lay it on me.”

If she didn’t need his help so badly, she
would have smacked him. “It’s very specific. I asked around about different
drummers in different bands and narrowed it down to the twelve most likely
prospects. You know. Twelve drummers drumming, for Christmas.”

“Like a grocery list,” he
teased.

“No, Charlie.” Damn him! “Like an interview process for
a job.”

“Is that what this is,
kitten? A job?”

“It’s a lifetime
commitment,” she sniffed. She wished he’d just let her get on with this. All
these questions were making her have tiny doubts about the wisdom of her
decision. She gave herself a mental shake. “I’ll do one a month until I hit on
the right one. The exact right one. First I check out their musical talent and
their band history.”

Charlie gave a roar of
laughter. “Because that’s such a requirement for stability?”

“Because it has to be a
drummer so I need his performance history,” she snapped.

“Maybe it’s a different
kind of performance you should be worrying about.”

“That comes later. After
the phone calls and the coffee dates to see how he is in person and match our
likes and dislikes.”

“Coffee dates?” He cocked
an eyebrow. “Not even a romantic dinner?”

She wanted to sling the
iPad at him. “I’ve been that route, remember? The whole nine yards, and what
did I get? A bunch of losers. No, I’m doing this like a project for work. As a
systems analyst, she knew the importance of things being able to mesh on a
practical basis. ”

So you’re going to interview
these bozos and then—what?”

“Drummers,” she told him. “Interviewing drummers.”

He cocked his head. “And
that’s why?”

“I told you.” She blew
out a breath of exasperation. “Drummers have the best beat. The best tempo.
They’re the heart of the band.” She grinned. “And have the best rhythm in bed.”